Comfort
by Oasis Blackmore
Summary: Two secret admirers, two anonymous Valentine-o-grams, and lots of fluff. Oneshot. Valentine’s Day fic.


**A/N: This is dedicated to my BFF Ayla; seriously, we have the same brain. Anyway, I didn't come up with a time-frame for this. Let's just say it happened sometime during the movies . . . At least, in my head it did. Enjoy.**

Comfort

"Dude, you're kidding, right?" Chad asked laughingly as he and Troy exited their homeroom class.

"No, man. Some girl seriously wants me to meet her on the roof on Friday." Chad gave him a skeptical smirk. "Here; if you don't believe me, look at it!" Troy tossed the Valentine-o-gram at his best friend and waited expectantly.

Valentine's Day was at the end of the week, and the juvenile cards had been handed out the previous period, yielding much conversation and speculation as to who had sent love notes to whom.

Chad's eyes roamed Troy's pink, heart-shaped paper, which read:

_Troy,_

_I just can't help loving you,_

_And if you knew who I was, _

_I think you might love me, too._

_Meet me in the biology garden afterschool on Friday._

_Love, Your Secret Admirer_

He looked up with surprise. "Your 'secret admirer'?" The grin was back in an instant as he returned the expression of adoration to its recipient. "I just can't believe she wants you to _meet_ her. I mean, you get these all the time, but they're always just like, 'Hugs and kisses', not 'Meet me here at this time'."

"I know!" Troy inquisitively looked at the card again before putting it in his pocket.

There was a brief pause before Chad posed the obvious question. "So, are you gonna go?"

"I dunno, man. I have Gabi. I shouldn't even think about anybody else, right? . . . But I _am_ curious."

Chad shook his head. "I don't think you should. It's probably just some stalker chick trying to get with you anyway."

Troy muttered vaguely in agreement, but Chad had to know by this time in their friendship that any time he told Troy _not_ to do something, Troy was even more likely to do it.

-break-

"So, how many Valentine-o-grams did _you_ get, Mr. Popular?" Ryan teased as Chad took his seat next to him in their shared biology class.

Chad had received two notable valentines of his own, one from Taylor, who had given him a quick peck on the cheek in the hall and skipped away, clutching the flower he'd had delivered to her homeroom class, and the other from an anonymous sender, whose smooth, slanted writing told a (fairly sappy) story of unrequited love. In spite of its corniness, Chad had been drawn in and couldn't help but wonder who would put so much effort into something as pointless as a Valentine-o-gram.

"Oh yeah? Sounds like somebody's got a _major_ thing for you." Ryan covertly observed Chad's contemplative expression. "Are you willing to try it out?"

Chad shrugged out of his reverie and turned to pull his biology materials from his backpack. "I don't even know who it is. Maybe if she talks to me face-to-face, I'll think about it. But I'm not really single anyway."

Ryan eagerly latched onto the offhandedly dropped information. "You and Taylor finally gonna make it official?"

Chad just smiled, comfortable letting Ryan believe whatever he wanted. "Let's just say I'm hoping I'll have a date on Valentine's Day."

"Hey, that date _could _be with whoever sent you that note," Ryan reminded, blue eyes glinting.

"Or it could be with someone I actually know," Chad countered. Obviously, he wasn't a big fan of anonymity. "But how 'bout you? How many'd you get?"

Ryan frowned a little. "I only got a few."

Chad looked at him perceptively. "Disappointed much?"

"They were all from girls." Ryan detached his gaze.

Chad winced at the topic but nudged his friend. "Hey, I bet there were tons of dudes who were just too chicken to send you anything."

Ryan took the theory to heart, smiling hopefully. "You really think so?"

"Sure, man. You're the hottest guy I know." Ryan's eyebrows shot up, and his mouth twitched into a smirk as Chad grimaced. "Which sounded a lot gayer out loud than in my head."

Ryan's chuckle was lighthearted. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." He winked, and Chad shoved his shoulder with an eye roll.

-break-

"Oh, Troy, the valentine you sent me was so sweet!" Gabriella cooed as she, Chad, and Troy walked down the halls of East High, toward the lunchroom.

Troy grinned at Chad, who had "helped him" come up with something to put on the card, over his girlfriend's embrace. "I'm glad you liked it."

"Romance is Troy's strong point," Chad goaded, barely keeping a straight face.

"You know, I think you're right," Gabriella agreed, oblivious to Troy reaching around her to punch his friend. "I can't wait for Valentine's Day."

Chad saw Troy's inward groan. It was that kind of subtle hint that had been plaguing him all month. Gabriella obviously expected some extravagant dinner and an evening filled with more romance than she had ever imagined being possible. Chad hadn't heard the end of it since the end of January, and, loathe as he was to help (especially since he had his own plans to arrange for himself and Taylor), Troy _was_ his best friend.

"Oh, yeah. Me neither," Troy looked away from his girlfriend innocently, giving her the impression he had big plans he wasn't telling her about, but when Chad caught his gaze, he was inclined to think differently.

"Hey," Ryan greeted, as he joined their troupe at cafeteria's entrance. He directed his next words at Chad, who was grateful for the distraction from the kanoodling couple at his left. "So, I heard Crosby's coming up with a lab for us to do tomorrow. Partners?"

"You know it," Chad accepted like it was the obvious answer, unaware of the sudden glee on Ryan's face. "But you're probably gonna end up doing all the work. I suck at bio."

"Eh." _It's a small price to pay._ "I don't mind." They proceeded to the lunch line, where Ryan casually asked, "Have you found out who sent that valentine yet?"

Chad cautiously eyed Troy, who he hadn't had a chance to tell yet, but Troy was preoccupied with his girlfriend and probably wouldn't care anyway. "Uh, no. Why? Did somebody say something?"

"No." If Ryan had seen the unsubtle glance, he didn't show it. "I just thought maybe you'd be asking around."

Chad's brows furrowed in confusion. "I'm not _that_ worried about it, Evans. 'Sides, if Taylor heard I even _read_ the notes I got from other girls, she'd probably be pissed."

"Oh. Right." Ryan clammed up then, pretending to be focused on getting his food, and to his dismay, Chad didn't even notice he'd gone silent.

-break-

"Dude, you gotta help me." Troy was begging. "_Please_."

Chad could never resist when Troy begged.

"_Okay_. But it's not gonna be all me this time. You have to do _some_ work." Either way, he had to have seen this coming, especially after the Valentine-o-gram dilemma. Troy could barely plan a date with Gabriella nowadays without Chad's help; he desperately feared boring his girlfriend with his company and his lack of original, romantic schemes.

"Thanks, man. I really want it to be special for Gabi. I mean, she has all these ideas in her head and all these hopes. I just don't wanna ruin it 'cause I wasn't prepared."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't sweat it, but if I ask for _anything_ when it comes to my date with Taylor -"

"I'm there," Troy assured.

"Good."

They headed out to Troy's truck, and Chad thought about how familiar it was to be going home with Troy afterschool. Even when they'd been younger, Mrs. Bolton had been the one to pick Chad up from kindergarten, just because his parents worked late, and set him and Troy up in the living room with an afternoon snack and the T.V. turned to their favorite cartoon. The way he remembered it, it seemed like he'd spent at least half his life at the Bolton's, at least half his life with Troy. With that in mind, he reasoned that it was only natural for him to feel-

"Dude, are you gonna get in or what?"

Chad snapped to and opened the passenger side door, ignoring Troy's raised eyebrow.

"What were you doing?" Troy questioned as he got in. "You looked like you were on another planet."

"Just thinking." Chad stared out his window, formulating an excuse, and the first thing that came to mind was, "I got a weird valentine, too. It was this long, over-detailed love story . . . note. I dunno. Ryan thinks I should try and find out who sent it."

"Wait, so, _you_ can find out who sent yours, but if _I_ go meet whoever sent _mine _-"

"Hey, I'm not the one who's in a complicated, long-term relationship here," Chad defended.

"Taylor doesn't count?" Troy looked away from the road to better scrutinize his friend.

"Taylor and me aren't official yet, so it's not even an issue."

"You mean, to _you_ it's not an issue," Troy corrected shrewdly.

"Just drive," Chad commanded with a pout. "And anyway, you're one to talk. Here you are saying all this stuff about how you want Valentine's Day to be perfect for your girlfriend, but you're still thinking about meeting some chick on the roof."

"I just wanna see who it is," Troy explained. "It's not like I'm gonna dump Gabi for somebody I don't even know."

"Yeah, but what if you _do_ know her? What if she's somebody you've been around for years?"

"I don't know. That wouldn't change how I feel about Gabi," Troy decided quietly.

"Dude!" Chad put on a horrified face. "What if it's Sharpay!"

Troy snorted. "Sharpay would grab me in the hall and force herself on me before she would resort to sending some dumb love poem."

Chad nodded. "I guess you're right . . . Still, that'd be frickin' scary. I think I'd rather have it be some _guy_ than Sharpay." He cast a curious glance across the cab.

"Yeah." Troy's expression didn't change much. He just narrowed his eyes a little in thought before cracking a grin. "At least a guy would take 'no' for an answer."

"So . . . you'd definitely say no?" Chad asked hesitantly. "I mean, if it was a guy."

"Of course, dude. Wouldn't you?"

"Well, _yeah_." Chad's voice peaked a little, and he swallowed to lessen the tension in his throat. "But I'd feel kind of bad about it . . . It's harder for a guy to put himself on the line, ya know? Girls have it easy."

"Sounds like the voice of experience, to me," Troy mused, giving Chad a suspicious look. "When did you put yourself on the line?"

"I'm just saying," Chad responded a little snappishly. "It _could_ be a guy, and you don't wanna let him down too hard, 'cause it'll, like, crush his spirit and stuff."

Troy shrugged. "If it's a guy, I guess I could - I dunno - ask him to hang out or something, but nothing weird. Like, if he wanted to be _friends_, that'd be cool."

"So, uh, if you _had_ to choose a guy to be with _that_ way, like if you didn't wanna die or something, who would it be?"

Troy frowned. "What's with the weird questions, man?"

"Just wondering," Chad replied vaguely.

"O_kay_." Troy's eyes narrowed again. "Jeez . . . Uh, I guess somebody cool . . . Somebody to talk to. Who gets me, ya know? And who's up for anything, anytime. And he'd have to be, like, comfortable."

"Comfortable?" Chad quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, man. You gotta be comfortable to be attracted to somebody, and if I had to pick another guy, he'd _have_ to make me feel safe."

Troy paused like he wasn't quite sure if what he'd said was a good enough explanation, and after a couple seconds, Chad burst out laughing. "Dude, that is so gay!"

"Shut up! You asked!" But Troy was laughing, too, in spite of the conversation, forgetting how awkward it had been only moments before.

-break-

"Chad, over here," Ryan called from their station when Chad entered the lab on Thursday.

"Hey, man." Chad took his seat, exhaling unenthusiastically.

"Excited for this lab?" Ryan queried cheerily.

Chad looked at him levelly. "Ha. Funny. What are we supposed to do anyway?"

"Something with cell division. It's no big deal." Ryan smiled reassuringly.

"God, I hate bio," Chad grumbled as their teacher came into the room.

As it turned out, Chad's earlier prediction about his contribution to the assignment was not far off-mark. Though he attempted to help, every effort only made a mess of things, and he eventually resigned himself to copying down the information they would need for their follow-up report.

"I'm really sorry, man," he apologized as Ryan unplugged their microscope near the end of the period.

"Don't worry about it." Ryan nudged him with his elbow as he sat down. "It's better you than one of the other guys."

"Well, _yeah_, but I still wish I coulda helped more."

Ryan's stool was right next to Chad's, and their arms rested together comfortably on the countertop. "Don't worry about it. You can make it up to me some other time." As the suggestive overtone sank in, Ryan reached over Chad's arm and put his pencil to the paper in front of him, sketching aimlessly in the margin.

Chad didn't really mind the close proximity so much as the suddenly intense look on Ryan's face, like he had something major on his mind.

"I found out who sent you the valentine," Ryan began hesitantly, not looking away from his doodles.

Chad raised his eyebrows. "You did? That was fast."

Ryan grimaced a little as he said, "Well, I kind of knew all along."

Chad scooted back to better view Ryan's now flushed expression. "Why didn't you say anything?" The sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach hinted that he already knew the answer.

Ryan set his pencil down and looked Chad directly in the eyes. "It was me."

Unconsciously, Chad inched further away, no longer at ease within touching distance. "Oh."

Ryan frowned. "Oh?"

"Yeah, 'oh'. What'd you _expect_ me to say?" Chad snapped, choosing anger over any other emotion.

This hurt Ryan, he could tell, because the fairer boy quickly broke eye contact, directing his gaze somewhere across the room and meekly replying, "I don't know."

Chad scrutinized him, his too-neat clothing, his soft, blonde hair, his smooth features, and he was scared - scared because he wasn't actually mad, and he wasn't really that uncomfortable; and he didn't know what to do next.

Swallowing heavily, Ryan gathered his courage and turned back to him. "Chad, I'm sorry."

Chad clenched his teeth and lowered his voice, eyes going cold as he growled, "Yeah, me too."

Thankfully, the bell rang at that moment, for Chad didn't know if he could stand seeing Ryan so crushed, so devastated. He hopped from his stool and rushed out the door, not daring to look back.

"What's with you?" Troy asked when he saw his near-frantic friend in the hall, moving into step with his quick pace.

"Just found out who -" Chad halted and observed Troy's concerned expression, one which would normally send his brain into a frenzy of stupid hopes and assumptions. "Nothing, man." He deliberately slowed down and forced a smile. "I just couldn't wait to get out of bio."

Troy laughed. "Dude, you gotta get over that. Biology really isn't that bad!"

It wasn't, but the only reason Chad had even taken the class was because Ryan had begged him to keep him company during his least favorite subject. It should have been so obvious, the fact that Ryan was into him, but Chad had been completely oblivious until this moment.

The worst part of it was that he had treated Ryan like scum, in spite of all the parallels he was able to draw between them. Truth was, he could see the same scenario playing out in the near future, with him suffering the same disappointment as Ryan had, when he professed his love to his closest friend of all time.

Chad hated that he had sent the valentine to Troy, but he had been at a loss. Feeling such things for his best friend was agonizing; and not knowing whether there was any chance that Troy felt the same was almost enough to drive him out of his mind. When he had received an equally anonymous card, he had so fervently hoped, against all reason, that Troy had sent it, another reason Ryan's confession had offended him. To ensure that Troy would follow the note's directions, Chad had found ways to subtly bring it up in their regular conversations. That way, curiosity would never be far from his mind.

Meanwhile, Ryan had been doing the same to him, hinting, questioning, hoping.

And Chad hadn't even had the decency to be civil when turning him down.

-break-

Ryan wasn't in any of his classes for the rest of the day, and though Chad saw him walking down the hall after homeroom the next morning, Friday's biology lecture epitomized lonely without his presence.

A whole period with no one to talk to and only the droning of the teacher to distract him gave Chad ample time to think, about how he was going to deal with Ryan, how he was going to undo his mistake, earn his forgiveness.

He would start by apologizing, sincerely, for his rudeness and his anger. Then, he would explain how he had been afraid because there were some things he didn't understand (or understood too well), play on Ryan's compassion. If Ryan hadn't forgiven him by then, he would tell him how much he needed his friendship, how much he would miss their conversations, how much bio had sucked without him.

Naturally, he wouldn't tell Ryan the real reason he couldn't be with him; "I'm in love with Troy" would probably spoil their friendship further. Again, there was that niggling voice in the back of Chad's mind, telling him that he and Troy could never be, that it would be best to move on to someone more receptive.

Even if he and Ryan made up, Chad had a feeling things would never be the same, because Ryan would still want him, and Chad would always wonder what it would be like if he hadn't rejected him.

So, maybe there was a better way to solve this problem.

-break-

The garden was quiet. Too quiet. Evidently, no one had visited the spot since the last watering, and the New Mexico breeze blew the leaves of the plants into one another, creating a soothing, rustling sound.

Troy was alone.

He felt guilty just being there, like he was cheating on Gabriella just by wondering who had sent him some stupid love letter.

Even Chad had tried to convince him to stay off the roof, but that might've been part of the reason Troy had come; Chad's advice was usually pretty bad.

It didn't matter though. The girl wasn't even there. Troy had gone to all the trouble of making the decision to meet her, and she hadn't even bothered to show up.

Troy moved to the edge of the roof and looked down on the student parking lot, absentmindedly running his fingers over the large petal of one of the winter flowers next to him. He would wait a few more minutes before giving up on ever finding out who his "secret admirer" was.

He smiled as he spotted Chad's distinct afro running toward the parking lot, looking determined as could be. He caught up to someone in pastels (from this height, Troy couldn't tell exactly who), who appeared to be ignoring him.

-break-

"Evans! Hold up!" Once Ryan realized who was calling him, he sped up, probably wanting to avoid Chad's disdain.

Chad accelerated from a jog to a sprint and finally caught Ryan's shoulder. "Ryan, wait."

Ryan pulled his arm away and rigidly continued toward his subcompact car. "What do you want, Chad?" He sounded resigned, tired, like maybe he hadn't slept the night before.

"I want . . . I'm sorry." Chad looked at Ryan expectantly, but the latter kept walking.

"That's great."

"Really, man. I feel bad about how things went down yesterday. I wanna - I dunno - make it up to you somehow." Chad waved vaguely at someone who called his name as they passed.

Ryan chuckled sarcastically. "'Make it up to me'. Nice. Just let it go, Chad. We don't have to be friends if it makes you uncomfortable."

"It doesn't!" Ryan finally spared him a glance. "I'm _okay_ with you liking me; okay?"

"Yeah, whatever you say." Ryan shook his head. "It sure didn't seem like you were okay with it yesterday."

"'Cause I _wasn't_, dude. You didn't even give me a chance to process!" They pulled to a stop at Ryan's car, and his stiff posture slumped slightly as he started to accept Chad's words as genuine. "I only acted mad 'cause you freaked me out." Ryan looked at Chad aghast. "Not like that! I mean - I was scared."

Ryan indignantly turned his body to face Chad. "_You _were scared? _I_ was the one putting myself out there -_ I_ was the one who got rejected!"

"I know! I _know_, but I - Listen, I was thinking maybe it could - maybe _we _could -" Chad stopped his stumbling speech and dropped his head, at a loss for words. "I dunno."

"And that's exactly where we left off yesterday," Ryan muttered after a pause, as if the entire conversation had been pointless. "I'll see you later, Chad."

He moved to go around to the driver's side of his car, but, with some newfound drive, Chad assertively stepped in his way, quickly pressing a shaking hand to Ryan's neck. He made only brief eye contact before he closed his eyes and jolted forward, lips meshing with Ryan's in what could only be deemed an awkward, first - kiss kind of way.

At first, Ryan was inclined to oppose, not yet ready to forgive, but Chad forcefully shoved into him, trapping him against the side of his car and ramming their bodies flush against each other. Ryan's eyes fluttered shut of their own will, and he framed Chad's face with his palms as the kiss deepened. He could hardly believe his luck.

-break-

After some careful thought, it hadn't taken Troy long to identify the _boy_ his best friend was kissing against a car in the parking lot.

He stepped away from the garden's wall and plopped down on one of the benches, stunned. He never would have guessed Chad was gay - _ever_. He wondered when and _if_ Chad had been planning on telling him and how he could have managed _not_ to notice.

He wasn't upset though, just shocked. He couldn't really be mad at his friend for not coming out to him, and he understood how personal such a thing was.

Still, it was a little weird.

"Troy?" Chad's voice floating up through the stairwell startled Troy, and he was sure he looked somewhat flustered when his blushing friend appeared at the top of the stairs. "Dude, you're still here?" Evidently, Troy had been sitting there pondering for some time.

"_Yeah_," Troy answered cautiously, suddenly thinking that _maybe_ . . . "Hey, _you're_ not my secret admirer, are you?"

"What!" Chad asked laughingly, though his eyes darted to the side a little suspiciously. "No, man. Definitely not. _Weird._ I just came up here to make sure you weren't dead or something. We didn't make a plan for if she was a psycho." Chad looked around and frowned. "Speaking of _her_ . . . Where is she?"

"I dunno." Troy shrugged as he got up and headed toward the exit. "She never showed up."

"Aw, man." Chad threw an arm around Troy and gave him a sympathetic grin, though he looked oddly relieved. "It's probably for the best. Gabi's great anyway."

Troy laughed in agreement, so comfortable next to his best friend of all time that he couldn't help but fall back into rhythms he had been considering abandoning, what with Chad's newly changed sexuality and all. "I dunno what I was thinking."

Chad started a new conversation about nothing at all, and Troy figured the "So, you're gay, huh?" discussion could wait until a later date.

**A/N: Review if you like.**


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